Inherited IRA RMD Calculator — 10-Year Rule & Annual Distribution Schedule (2026)

Not tax or legal advice. IRS Single Life Expectancy factors per IRS Publication 590-B (Table I), effective January 1, 2022. T.D. 10001 annual RMD requirement effective January 1, 2025. Consult a qualified tax advisor before making distribution decisions.

Enter your situation to see a year-by-year distribution schedule, required amounts under T.D. 10001, estimated income tax, and projected account balance through depletion.

Who Is Subject to the 10-Year Rule?

The SECURE Act (effective for deaths in 2020 and after) eliminated the "stretch IRA" for most beneficiaries, replacing it with a mandatory 10-year depletion rule. Whether you're subject to it — and whether annual RMDs apply within that 10 years — depends on two classifications.

Non-Eligible Designated Beneficiaries (most common)

Adult children, grandchildren, siblings, and most non-spouse beneficiaries are non-eligible designated beneficiaries (non-EDB). They must deplete the inherited account by December 31 of the 10th year after the owner's death. This is the scenario this calculator models. Under T.D. 10001 (effective 2025): if the owner died after their required beginning date, annual RMDs are also required in years 1–9.

Eligible Designated Beneficiaries (EDB) — different rules apply

The following beneficiaries can use a life expectancy stretch rather than the 10-year rule:

• Surviving spouse — can roll over to their own IRA or use the Single Life Table with annual recalculation (favorable vs. the fixed/decrement method this calculator uses)
• Minor child of the decedent — uses life expectancy stretch until the age of majority (21 in most states), then 10-year rule kicks in
• Disabled or chronically ill individual — life expectancy stretch
• Beneficiary not more than 10 years younger than the decedent — life expectancy stretch

Non-Designated Beneficiaries — no stretch at all

Estates, most charities, and certain trusts that don't meet "see-through" requirements are non-designated beneficiaries. They must deplete within 5 years if the owner died before RBD, or follow the owner's remaining life expectancy if after RBD. This calculator does not apply to non-designated beneficiaries.

Determining the Required Beginning Date (RBD)

The RBD is the date by which the IRA owner must have begun taking RMDs. Under SECURE 2.0 (effective 2023), the RBD age changed:³

• Born 1950 or earlier: RBD was April 1 of the year after turning 72 (old rule)
• Born 1951–1959: RBD is April 1 of the year after turning 73
• Born 1960 or later: RBD is April 1 of the year after turning 75

Practical shortcut: if the original IRA owner died at age 72 or younger (74 or younger if born 1960+), they were almost certainly before their RBD. If they died in their mid-70s or older, confirm the exact birth year and death date against the table above. Edge cases: someone who turned 73 in December 2025 had an RBD of April 1, 2026 — if they died in January 2026, they were technically before their RBD even though they had reached RBD age. Confirm with your IRA custodian or tax advisor when the answer isn't obvious.

How the Single Life Table Works for Inherited IRAs

When T.D. 10001 annual RMDs apply (Traditional IRA, owner past RBD), the calculation uses the IRS Single Life Expectancy Table (Table I, Appendix B, Publication 590-B):

1. Establish the initial factor. Look up the beneficiary's age as of December 31 of the first distribution year (the year after death). This factor is fixed — it does not recalculate each year. (Surviving spouses who keep inherited IRAs recalculate annually; non-EDB beneficiaries do not.)
2. Reduce by 1.0 each year. Year 2 factor = initial factor − 1. Year 3 = initial factor − 2. And so on through year 9.
3. Calculate each year's RMD. Divide the prior December 31 balance by that year's factor. Example: $2,000,000 balance, factor 31.6 (age 55 in year 1) = $63,291 RMD in year 1.
4. Year 10: full depletion. Whatever remains in the account on January 1 of year 10 must be fully distributed by December 31 of that year, plus any growth that occurs during the year.

Table I was updated effective January 1, 2022 under final regulations (T.D. 9930). The new table uses longer life expectancies than the prior table, resulting in smaller annual RMDs. If your inherited IRA was opened before 2022 and you or your advisor had calculated factors under the old table, recalculate using the current table — it's more favorable.

Tax Planning Across the 10-Year Window

If annual RMDs are required (owner past RBD)

The IRS sets the minimum you must take each year using the Single Life Table. You can always take more than the minimum — and for large inherited IRAs at UHNW families, doing so is often smart tax planning:

• Bracket management. If your income in a given year is lower than usual — a sabbatical, business sale year with large deductions, charitable bunching year — take more than the minimum. Incremental distributions up to the top of your current bracket cost less than waiting until year 10 when the remaining balance may push you deeper into 37%.
• Roth conversion coordination. A large inherited Traditional IRA and your own traditional IRA may both be generating RMD income after age 73. Model whether Roth conversions of your own IRA today reduce total taxable RMD income during the inherited IRA depletion window.
• State income tax timing. If you're planning a domicile change from a high-tax state (California 13.3%) to a no-tax state (Florida, Texas, Nevada), inherited IRA distributions taken after the domicile change are free of California income tax. The inherited IRA annual RMD requirement means you can't fully defer — but you can front-load voluntary distributions before the move, or delay discretionary distributions until after.
• QCDs are not available. Qualified Charitable Distributions (§408(d)(8)) require a distribution from your own IRA — not an inherited IRA. You cannot use QCDs to reduce inherited IRA RMD income. For charitable giving from inherited IRA proceeds, consider a DAF or direct cash donation after taking the distribution.

If no annual RMDs are required (owner before RBD, or Roth IRA)

You have full flexibility on timing through years 1–9. The most common mistake is waiting: taking nothing for 9 years and then facing a massive year-10 taxable event that pushes all income to 37% federal (plus state). For a $3M inherited Traditional IRA growing at 6% for 9 years, the year-10 balance would be approximately $5.06M — a lump-sum taxable distribution that would consume nearly all of a single year's income. A better approach:

• Model the even-distribution strategy: divide the projected balance by the remaining years and take that amount each year. This is tax-inefficient vs. bracket-aware distributions but avoids the year-10 cliff entirely.
• Identify low-income years (pre-Social Security, early retirement, business sale with large losses) and accelerate distributions in those years.
• For very large inherited IRAs ($5M+), consult a UHNW tax advisor about charitable strategies — donating inherited IRA assets to charity (if the inherited IRA is named as a bequest) or post-distribution DAF contributions to offset the taxable income.

Inherited Roth IRA: The 10-Year Rule Without the Tax

An inherited Roth IRA is subject to the same 10-year depletion rule as a Traditional IRA — but without the annual RMD requirement or the income tax. Because Roth IRA owners have no required beginning date, T.D. 10001 never applies. The beneficiary can let the account compound entirely tax-free for all 10 years, then take the year-10 distribution income-tax-free.

The math is compelling. A $2M inherited Roth IRA growing at 6% for 10 years reaches approximately $3.58M — and the entire $3.58M is distributed income-tax-free. The equivalent Traditional IRA with T.D. 10001 annual RMDs would generate an estimated $1.06M in federal income taxes (at 37%) over the same 10 years, with a significantly smaller net after-tax payout.

This is a key reason why Roth conversions are an estate planning tool at UHNW scale: converting a Traditional IRA to Roth today shifts future inherited wealth from a heavily taxed 10-year payout to a tax-free one. The conversion tax paid today is a known, controlled cost — the alternative is an unknown but likely large future tax bill spread across your heirs' highest-earning years.

UHNW Context: When the Inherited IRA Is One of Many Assets

For a UHNW family, an inherited IRA rarely sits in isolation. It typically arrives alongside:

• Inherited non-IRA assets (brokerage accounts with step-up in basis, real estate, business interests)
• Your own existing retirement accounts generating RMDs at age 73/75
• Active business income or executive compensation
• Estate planning structures (trusts, GRATs, SLATs) that may have their own income

The annual RMD income from a large inherited IRA can interact badly with these other income sources. A $5M inherited IRA at factor 25 generates a $200,000 annual RMD that stacks on top of your existing income — potentially triggering IRMAA surcharges, pushing QBI deductions into the phase-out range, or increasing the rate on LTCG and NIIT income in a year you sell appreciated assets.

Coordinate with a fee-only advisor who can model the full picture: inherited IRA distributions, your own RMDs, estate tax exposure (the inherited IRA is part of your taxable estate if you die before depleting it), and the interplay with charitable giving and trust structures.